


Dreaming Forward

by psyraah



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 06:04:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14826746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/psyraah/pseuds/psyraah
Summary: Keith learns it’s okay to lean on others. Shiro’s there to teach him.“Shiro.” His name rides out on a heartbroken sob, emphasised by a sharp tug on his shirt. “Shiro, wake up. P-please, wake up.” The words are desperate, and Shiro slowly shakes off his sleepy confusion.Shiro wakes to someone crying, and if he’s still in bed, that means it’s…“Keith?”





	Dreaming Forward

**Author's Note:**

> This was started quite a few months ago and I only got around to finishing it now. I hope you enjoy!!!

Shiro wakes to someone crying, and his shirt being yanked.

He blinks his eyes open, groggy from a few days of poor sleep and endless stress, and with the hints of a headache pulsing behind his eyes, he’s not sure what’s going on. It’s still dark, so it’s not time to get up. He’s in his room, in his bed, and it’s still warm because he shares it with Keith every night.

Someone speaks.

“Shiro.” His name rides out on a heartbroken sob, emphasised by a sharp tug on his shirt. “Shiro, wake up. P-please, wake up.” The words are desperate, and Shiro slowly shakes off his sleepy confusion.

Shiro wakes to someone crying, and if he’s still in bed, that means it’s…

“Keith?” he whispers groggily, eyes slowly adjusting to the dark.

There’s a small gasp somewhere over him and for a moment, Keith stops tugging on his shirt. He’s still, except for his shaking, and Shiro can hear Keith’s trembling breaths, although it’s taking Shiro an embarrassingly long to figure out why Keith’s so upset.

Shiro doesn’t get another moment to contemplate, because Keith doesn’t stay still for long before he starts to pull desperately at the fabric again, still crying.

“Shiro, you gotta wake up. You c-can’t—please don’t leave me here, you gotta—”

Keith’s fear is alarming, and Shiro fumbles around, trying to wrap an arm around Keith’s waist, or take his hand. Screw the how or the why; right now, Keith is upset, and Shiro is desperate to do something, _anything_ , to get him to stop sounding like that.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” He pushes himself up, finally managing to lay a hand on Keith’s arm. Keith stops pulling on his shirt, but he’s still gasping for air, and he’s still got a death grip on the cloth. “Keith, I’m right here,” Shiro says softly. “I’m here, I’m here. What’s wrong?”

It’s still too dark for Shiro to see Keith’s face. But his heart is aching from what he can hear and feel: Keith’s choked breath, Keith’s shaking hands, and then Keith’s arms wrapped tight—almost too tight—around him.

“Shiro.” He still sounds terrified, and Shiro can’t do anything but hold him. He must’ve had a nightmare, or panic attack; nothing else would have Keith shaken like this. An enemy threat would yield action, and caution, but not this terror.

“Shh, I’m here. I’m here.” Shiro rests his cheek against Keith’s hair, rubbing his hand against his sweat-damp shirt. Keith’s still gasping, and Shiro rubs his back, worried. “It’s Takashi, I’m here, sweetheart. Just breathe for me.”

Keith lets out another heartbroken sob, and Shiro lets him cry, rocking him gently back and forth. He fumbles for the lamp so they’re not stuck in the dark, and Keith flinches slightly when the room is lit with the dim glow.

“It’s just me, it’s just me,” Shiro hurries to reassure him. “You’re okay. You’re safe.”

“I—I thought—I s-saw—” Keith gasps, the words choked off, and Shiro’s heart aches.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk just yet.” He shifts so that he’s sitting, Keith tucked firmly against his chest, where Shiro knows Keith will be able to hear Shiro’s heartbeat. “You don’t have to explain. I’ve got you, I’m here.”

“Shiro, d-don’t—p-please don’t—”

Knowing what Keith is asking—they’ve been here before, too many times to count—Shiro presses a gentle kiss to his temple. He keeps his arm wrapped firmly around Keith’s waist, holding him close. “I’m not leaving you over this,” he murmurs. “I would never.”

When Keith chokes on another sob, Shiro knows he’s hit the nail on the head. So he runs his fingers through Keith’s hair, still hushing him gently, still whispering words of reassurance. Keith refuses to look at Shiro, his face pressed against Shiro’s chest as he shakes and cries and fall apart, and Shiro won’t force him to. All he can do is hold Keith close and hope that his presence helps somehow.

It seems to, because slowly, painstakingly piecing together broken things, Keith’s breaths even out and he comes back to himself. But even when he finally shifts in Shiro’s arms, hiccupping cries becoming quiet sniffles, he still looks a little distant when he meets Shiro’s gaze.

“I’m s-sorry.”

Shiro should have known those would be the first words that would leave Keith’s lips. “Shh, you don’t have anything to apologise for.”

“B-but I woke you up, and you’ve been so tired lately.”

A wave of affection flows through Shiro for the precious boy he holds in his arms. “And why’s that, Keith?” Shiro doesn’t look away, brushing Keith’s bangs back before gently kissing his forehead. “Why’ve I been tired?”

“…Nightmares.”

“Mhm.” Shiro cups his cheeks, watching him carefully. “And who’s been right here helping me through them every time I woke up?”

Keith’s breath hitches, and he shakes his head.

“Don’t say it’s not the same,” Shiro says, before Keith can even start down that path. “You—you love me.” And every day Shiro can speak that truth is a miracle he doesn’t take for granted. “You love me,” he repeats firmly, “even through all the dark parts and bad patches.” And _that_ truth is more than a miracle; it must be some kind of magic that has Keith, with all his love to give, choose to give it to Shiro. “Let me love you too, okay?”

And Shiro will say those words a thousand times over, would travel a thousand universes, just to see the shaky smile on Keith’s lips.

“You’re stubborn,” Keith says, after he’s got his shaking voice a little more under control.

Shiro smiles gently, and kisses him on the nose, loving him with all his heart. “I learnt from the best.”

“I love you,” Keith says, and it’s a little desperate. He clings to Shiro’s shirt, before hiding against his chest again. “So much.”

And Shiro knows where that desperation comes from. “I promise I’m not leaving you over this,” Shiro says again, firmly. “Promise, Spitfire.”

Keith looks up, and he doesn’t say anything just yet, searching Shiro’s eyes for reassurance. And Shiro looks at him, gently stroking his cheek and hoping that Keith can see all the infinite ways in which Shiro loves him. All the ways in which Shiro will _keep_ loving him.

Maybe Keith finds what he’s looking for, because then he turns away and presses his face against the warm skin of Shiro’s chest, where his heart beats full of love for his boyfriend. “Thank you,” he says quietly, the words muffled, appreciation where it used to be guilt and fear. But he’s slowly learning (and Shiro hope that he can keep reassuring Keith of this) that Shiro’s not leaving him, even with all his broken bits and tattered past. They fit together, imperfect though they may be. That’s how they’ve always been. It’s how they always will be.

Shiro strokes Keith’s hair gently, working out some tangles, content to stay still a while longer. “Did you want to talk about it?” he asks gently, once the quiet has reigned for a while.

Keith shrugs, trying to play it down. “It’s—it’s nothing that hasn’t happened before.”

“Doesn’t mean you don’t need to talk about it.”

Shiro can feel Keith shudder, and he keeps petting at his hair gently, hoping to ground him.

“I—I thought you died.” Keith’s voice cracks over the last word, and Shiro’s heart does too. “I saw you, I don’t know—I don’t know h-how, but you were just…lying there.” His breath hitches again, and Shiro kisses his cheek gently.

“Just breathe, sweetheart. I’m right here. Still alive, I promise.”

Keith looks up at him, grief in his eyes. “You wouldn’t wake up. I couldn’t see where you were hurt, but you j-just—you wouldn’t w-wake up. I kept trying to shake you, but you didn’t—you didn’t come back to me, and I was so _scared_ , ‘cause you always come back. You always try to—even when you’re hurt, you try to make sure I’m okay, you always l-look out for me, and I don’t know what I’d _do_ if I didn’t—”

Not being able to bear the heartbroken look on Keith’s face any longer, Shiro pulls him into a hug. “You won’t have to find out. You won’t. I will _always_ look after you, Spitfire.”

Keith’s arms wrap around him, clinging to him like a lifeline. “I was so _scared_. I was just—I could feel myself crying but you wouldn’t come back to me—”

“I’ve come back to you, again and again. I always will.” Shiro presses his lips to Keith’s cheek, before brushing them gently over his ear. “Always. Always, Keith.”

Keith hesitates, before he nods, arms tightening around Shiro’s waist. For his part, Shiro just holds onto Keith, cradling his head and rocking him gently. The fear will be slow to dissipate—not only is Shiro familiar with Keith’s, but he knows from his own experience. But it’s all right, because it’s no exaggeration to say that Shiro would hold Keith forever if it meant that Keith could get the peace he deserves.

Although Keith also deserves some rest. “Did you want to go back to sleep at all, or just stay up?”

“I—I don’t think I can sleep.”

Shiro resigns himself to the fact that they’re going to be even more exhausted tomorrow. He doesn’t blame Keith at all; he just wishes it didn’t always have to be this hard, for either of them.

“That’s fine,” he says, voice still gentle. “We can stay up.”

“Kashi, no, you need to rest.”

“I’ll be fine. Besides, I get to spend more time with you,” he says with a wink.

Shiro catches the way Keith rolls his eyes, before he’s tugging Keith back to lay down with him. It might mean less sleep, but hey, at least he gets to spend more time with Keith. He flicks through his mental catalogue of ways to distract Keith or cheer him up, and settles on…well, talking about them.

“So…about that wedding we were planning, sweetheart.”

Keith shifts, and Shiro can hear the smile in his voice. “I’ve told you before, neither of us have proposed yet. There’s no wedding yet.”

“Oh no, there’s definitely going to be a wedding.” Shiro can picture it in his head. It’s something he used to think of, when he daydreamed about his crush back at the Garrison, when a passing smile from Keith in the hallways had been enough to distract him for days. These days, it’s a future that he wants more than anything, and one that keeps him anchored in his determination to fight for it, out here where he’s so far from Earth. “I just haven’t had time to propose to you yet, out here.”

Keith laughs. “Okay, if you insist on planning a wedding before either of us have proposed, then sure. I think last time we were talking about the flowers. You said blue and white.”

“It’d bring out your eyes,” Shiro says quietly, rubbing his hand absently over Keith’s shoulder.

“You said that last time.”

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that. It’s true.”

Keith laughs again, sliding his hand under Shiro’s shirt. Partially to warm up his hands, partially to feel closer. Shiro knows this, because he’s teased Keith about it before, and the confession of the desire to be close had tripped out quietly from Keith’s lips, and warmed Shiro’s heart.

Shiro clears his throat, painting the image for the both of them. “So it’s settled then. Blue and white for the flowers. You’d look amazing in a suit—”

“Nothing compared to you, Takashi.”

Shiro raises his eyebrows, glancing down at his boyfriend. “Excuse me. Are you questioning my judgment?”

Keith rolls his eyes, before tucking his face against Shiro’s chest once more. “No, I’m just saying—”

“Because that’s pretty rude.”

“I’m just _saying_ —”

“You wake me up, I give you cuddles, and then you insult my _boyfriend_ —”

And Keith laughs, happy even if he’s not whole. Keith laughs, and it makes Shiro smile and the love beat warm in his chest.

Keith laughs, and Shiro knows that whatever comes their way, they are lucky. _Both_ of them are lucky, and it’s taken a very long time for Shiro to realise his own worth in Keith’s eyes. Both of them are lucky, to have someone to hold and to laugh with. Because when the world seems too dark, they still have this: their shared warmth in one bed, fingers intertwined in a promise, and a future to fight for.

Keith laughs, and the last shadows of the night fade away from his eyes. “You’re a dork.”

“Mhm.” Shiro does not object.

Keith sighs contently, pulling the blanket more snugly around them. “But my dork.”

“Always, Keith.”

He means it. Every time he says it, Shiro means it. Whatever time they have, whatever the future may bring, Shiro never wants any of it without Keith.

And he knows Keith feels the same.

“Always,” he whispers, and Keith’s voice echoes his own as they hold each other through to a new day.

**Author's Note:**

> Please help share on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/starchydreams/status/1002864769353670656) or [Tumblr](http://shiroganedefencesquad.tumblr.com/post/174495273614/dreaming-forward-pairing-keithshiro-rating-g) if you enjoyed it!! Thank you for reading.


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